A LITTLE girl battling cystic fibrosis has had the honour of having a fundraising race named after her.

Melanie Cleary, 10, from Prestwich will be the VIP guest at The Melanie Cleary Road Mile in April.

The St Philip's Primary School pupil has only just been released from hospital last week - she'd been a patient at Booth Hall Children's Hospital after part of her lung collapsed.

The youngster was recovering at home when the man behind the Joe Geeling Memorial 5k Race, Andy O'Sullivan, asked if he could organise a race in Melanie's honour.

Andy met Melanie at the Joe Geeling race last week, when her dad Mike Cleary was running to raise cash for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and Booth Hall. She'd been let out of hospital especially to watch her dad run.

Andy said: "Melanie is such a lovely little girl, so selfless.

"I wanted to organise a race in her name because she's suffered so much and she's been so brave.

"Even though she's only 10-years-old, she deserves a race of her own because she's an absolute inspiration and I hope Prestwich and Manchester gets behind her and comes out running."

Back in class for the first time since being ill, Melanie has already roped some of her school friends into doing the race.

She even chose two charities closest to her heart - the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and Booth Hall Children's Hospital - the two causes runners will be raising cash for.

Proud dad Mike, of Downham Crescent, is used to going on the run to raise cash for cystic fibrosis research. He has run a number of sponsored marathons over the past few years for the cause.

He said: "It's a fantastic honour for Mel to have a race named after her. She takes all that life throws at her in her stride and gets on with it. A couple of her friends have volunteered to run, and we hope Mel will be able to walk it, so it should be a really nice day."

The run will take place on Wednesday, April 4 at 7pm from Hollingworth Lake, Littleborough, Rochdale.

There will be a prize for every competitor, refreshments and first aid. Entry is £2 for club runners, £4 for individuals and £1 extra payable on the evening.